Budget in a fortnight as Britain heads for May 6 election

Gordon Brown will settle today on March 24 as the day for the pre-election Budget as the campaign accelerates towards a May 6 showdown.

The Prime Minister will also place his stewardship of the economy at the heart of his election drive. Despite overseeing the longest and deepest recession since the Second World War, he will argue that, whereas Labour would secure the recovery, an incoming Conservative government would put it in jeopardy.

His speech to a City audience today will come after figures yesterday showed that Britain’s trade deficit widened unexpectedly in January and exports slumped at the fastest pace in more than three years.

The data dashed immediate hopes that the weakness of sterling, which has fallen by nearly 30 per cent against…

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